Door guard

ABSTRACT

There is provided a door guard which may be installed in relation to a swinging pivot action type door, and left thereon to selectively provide secure or unsecure mode for the doorway. Callers may be interviewed through partially opened door while retaining door guard in the secure mode thereby preventing entry to intruders. Convenient means is provided to disengage door guard from within the allow full opening of the door.

United States Patent 1 3,6 0,709 Bogusz [4 1 Sept. 12, 1972 1541 DOOR GUARD 2,762,522 9/1956 Hogan ..292/253 x 72 Inventor; Frank L Boausz Talcon, Farming 3,200,435 8/1965 Hemmeter et al. ..16/ 137 ton, Conn. 0,6032

Filed: April 12, 1971 Appl.No.: 133,107

52 us. Cl ..292/262, 292/1310. 15, 292/247, 292/259 Int. Cl ..E05c 17/06 Field of Search....70/93; 292/247, 262, DIG. 15, 292/259, 253; 16/192, 147, 168

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,002,738 5/1935 Haug ..292/262 X Primary Examiner-Richard E. Moore [5 7] ABSTRACT There is provided a door guard which may be installed in relation to a swinging pivot action type door, and left thereon to selectively provide secure or unsecure mode for the doorway. Callers may be interviewed through partially opened door while retaining door guard in the secure mode thereby preventing entry to intruders. Convenient means is provided to disengage door guard from within the allow full opening of the door.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures Patented Sept. 12,1972 7 3,690,709

INVEN'TOR DOOR GUARD This invention relates to a door guard.

More particularly, this invention relates to an as sembly of a door reinforcement brace and floor mounted disconnectable support and includes means for engaging the brace to the existing cloor hinges. At present, prevention of unwelcome entry to occupied premises is accomplished in a number of ways. Most are not effective where the unwelcome person is willing to risk a low level of noise to gain entry. The chain latch, for example, can in most cases be easily broken or pulled from its mount by applying shoulder pressure to the door. Other types, which use a friction lever to provide a brace from the door to the inside floor, are cumbersome, not dependable do to slippage, and do not prevent break-through of poor quality doors such as the conventional hollow core variety.

It would be desirable to have a door guard for use wherever occupants chose to be selective as to those gaining entry that would reinforce the basic door structure, provide means for partially opening the door to examine or interview the caller without compromising security, provide a simple means of permitting entry, is relatively easy to install, and is relative economical. It would further be desirable to use a decorative version of the basic door guard for aesthetic enhancement of the doorway.

The door guard provides a convenient means for reinforcing a door, allows partial opening of the door while remaining in a secure mode, can easily be decoupled from its floor mount to allow full opening of the door, can easily be placed in the secure position after closing the door, and is relatively simple to install.

The invention obviates the disadvantages of prior art in that the door guard basic strengths of material, technique of mounting, and relationship to the door, virtually precludes forced entry without major forces, structural damage and noise levels. Additionally, time required to gain entry through a door guard protected door may be prohibitive to the intruder.

Briefly, the door guard comprises a door brace coupled to and extending from the upper door hinge across the door to the area of the lower opposite corner of the door. At this corner area, the rod extends beyond the doors vertical edge, takes a downward shape parallel to the doors vertical edge and without making contact with the floor, turns again in the direction of, and extends to engage, the doors lower hinge.

Preferred embodiments of the door brace are shown in the drawings herein. The door brace is formed and assembled so as to be conveniently engaged with the upper and lower door hinges thereby utilizing the hinge mounts to anchor said door brace. Mounted to the floor, in relation to the brace, is a strike catch. In a preferred embodiment, the strike catch is designed to swivel on its mounting plate so that it may be swung clear of the door brace, normally by using the foot, allowing full opening of the door. In the door secure mode the strike catch is in position so that opening the door causes the strike catch to engage the door brace coupling loop preventing the door from being opened beyond a point necessary for secure interview of a caller.

Accordingly it is the object of this invention to provide an improved door guard.

It is another object of this invention to provide a convenient means for securing a door way.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as this description proceeds taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in reduced scale of the door guard assembled to a closed door according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the floor mount and associated end of door brace shown in operative position.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modified form of union for joining the distal ends of the rods of the door brace together.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the barrel part of a conventional door hinge showing how the proximal ends door-brace rods are connected thereto.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modified form of hinge engaging pintle. I

FIG. 7 is a top view of a further modified form making use of formed heavy wire or rod in the fabrication of the strike-catch guard, and FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of the same. Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 designates generally the strike catch assembly, consisting of a strike catch 12 and a mounting bracket 14. Associated with the strike catch assembly is a door brace 16 shown in FIG. 1 in conjunction with a conventional door 18 and a door frame 20. The door brace 16 consists of an upper sweep 22 which extends substantially the length and width of the door 18, and a lower sweep 24 that extends across the lower portion of the door. These two sweeps 22 and 24 generally converge down at the lower right hand corner of the door and are integrally. joined together by a U-shaped yoke or loop 26. The loop 26 is affixed to the door by a support clip 28. The proximal ends of the upper and lower sweeps 22 and 24 are integrally formed with hinge pintles 30 that take the place of the regular hinge pins of the conventional door hinges 32. FIG. 5 enlarged shows the use of these pintles operating within the inter-leaved barrels of the hinge 32.

As shown in FIG. 2 it is usual practice to position the door inwardly a slight distance relative to the door jam 20a and baseboard 34. In such an arrangement it is necessary to offset the yoke 26 a slight distance as indicated at 26a. As best shown in FIG. 2 the strike catch 12 is formed with a U-shaped catch section 36 defining a long slot 36a. The U-shaped catch section is closed at its outer end at 36b and open at its inner end. One leg of the U-shaped catch 36 is integrally formed with an offset flange 38 having a dependant cylindrical barrel 40. The mounting bracket 14, referred to above, consists of a wall flange 42 and a base flange 44. The wall flange 42 should be attached to the base board 34 by means of wood screws 42a and the base flange in turn should be attached to the floor by wood screws 440. Thus it can be seen that a very secure and strong mount is provided for supporting the strike catch assembly. It is desirable to have the wood screws 42a in the base board be of sufficient length to extend through the base board 34 and into the door frame studs 48 for added strength.

The strike catch 12 is hingedly connected to a hollow boss 50 extending upwardly from the base flange 44 as by means of a pivot bolt 52. Preferably the base is formed with a round head 54 at its exposed upper end and a nut 56 is concealed within the hollow boss 50. If desired the strike catch may be firctionalized by a split washer 56a confined between the nut 56 and the adjacent face of the hollow boss 50. As best shown in FIG. 2 the legs of the U-shaped yoke 26 are joined together by a connecting part 26b that operates within the long slot 36a of the U-shaped catch 36.

In operation the strike catch 12 is designed to allow limited opening of door 16 without resisting this action. This facilitates interviewing callers and receiving small packages without compromising security. When it is desired to have the door opened only a slight distance to observe a party seeking admission, the strike catch should be swung to the position as shown in FIG. 2 wherein the door can be opened only as far as the yoke connecting part 26b can slide within the slot 36a. To permit the door to be opened, it will be necessary to completely close the door and then swing the strike catch 12 to one side, which can be readily accomplished by a slight kick of the foot.

In order to provide for convenience in shipping, storage and installation of the door guard, a modified form of a U-shaped loop 58 is shown in FIG. 4, wherein the legs of said loop are provided with tapped holes 60 and the ends of the upper and lower sweeps 22 and 24 are threaded as shown at 22a and 24a.

In FIG. 6 the approximal ends of the sweeps 22 and 24 may be constructed so that the conventional hinge pins 62 may be employed. For this purpose the ends of the sweeps may be flattened as shown at 64 and provided with an opening accommodating the hinge pin 62.

.FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 2 in function and form except that a heavy wire or rod is used to form the strike catch guard 70. In this form the strike catch guard consists of upper and lower leg sections 72 and 74 joined at their distal ends as indicated at 73. The leg sections 72 and 74 are generally arranged in a V formation providing a slot within which the connecting part 26a of the yoke operates. The ends of both of the leg sections are formed with a wire eye 76 and 78 by means of which the catch may be pivotedly connected to a mounting bracket 80. In this form the mounting bracket is preferrably constructed so that it can be manufactured from a conventional angle bar for economy purposes. To hingedly connect the strike catch to the mounting bracket 80, it is necessary to provide a tubular support 82 and spacer washer 84 through which a hinge bolt. 86 extends and having a flat head confined within a suitable socket in the base flange. The threaded bolt is provided with a castellated nut 88 which may be locked to the bolt 86 with the usual cutter pin 90 to prevent tampering with from outside of the door.

While several forms of the invention are presented herein for the purpose of exemplification, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to other modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a door guard adapted for use with a swinging pivot action type door, that improvement which comprises a door brace member adapted to extend over the surface of the door and having means at one end for pivotal connection with one or more door hinges and an engagement loop element at its opposite end, a

strike catch and a support mount adapted to be fattached to the door frame and or the floor, means or pivotally connecting said strike catch to said support mount, and means for coupling and de-coupling loop element of said door brace member with said strike catch and permitting limited opening movement of said loop element in one position of the strike catch and a free opening movement of said loop element when the strike catch is in a different position, thereby selectively providing secure or unsecure mode for the doorway.

2. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein said door brace member consists of two sweeps an upper one and a lower one, the upper one extending from the upper hinge substantially diagonally across the face of the door to the opposite lower corner of the door, and the lower sweep extending generally transversely across the door and joined to the upper sweep by a connecting loop.

3. A door guard as defined in claim 2 wherein the connecting loop has a removable joint connection with free ends of said sweep (FIG. 4).

4. A door guard as defined by claim 1 wherein the support mount is in the form of an angle piece having firm anchorage to the floor surface as well as the adjacent wall surface of the door frame.

5. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein the door brace member consists of a single sweep leaving one end connected to a door hinge and extending substantially transversely across the door surface, and means at its opposite end for releasible connection with the strike catch.

6. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein the door structure performs as the door brace means with an engagement loop mounted directly to the door appropriately to engage the strike catch. 

1. In a door guard adapted for use with a swinging pivot action type door, that improvement which comprises a door brace member adapted to extend over the surface of the door and having means at one end for pivotal connection with one or more door hinges and an engagement loop element at its opposite end, a strike catch and a support mount adapted to be attached to the door frame and or the floor, means for pivotally connecting said strike catch to said support mount, and means for coupling and de-coupling loop element of said door brace member with said strike catch and permitting limited opening movement of said loop element in one position of the strike catch and a free opening movement of said loop element when the strike catch is in a different position, thereby selectively providing secure or unsecure mode for the doorway.
 2. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein said door brace member consists of two sweeps an upper one and a lower one, the upper one extending from the upper hinge substantially diagonally across the face of the door to the opposite lower corner of the door, and the lower sweep extending generally transversely across the door and joined to the upper sweep by a connecting loop.
 3. A door guard as defined in claim 2 wherein the connecting loop has a removable joint connection wiTh free ends of said sweep (FIG. 4).
 4. A door guard as defined by claim 1 wherein the support mount is in the form of an angle piece having firm anchorage to the floor surface as well as the adjacent wall surface of the door frame.
 5. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein the door brace member consists of a single sweep leaving one end connected to a door hinge and extending substantially transversely across the door surface, and means at its opposite end for releasible connection with the strike catch.
 6. A door guard as defined in claim 1 wherein the door structure performs as the door brace means with an engagement loop mounted directly to the door appropriately to engage the strike catch. 